'A Rhetorical Analysis Of Rachel Dolezal's Truth'

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In William Saletan’s article, “Rachel Dolezal’s Truth”, Saletan eplains and reports on the scandal involving Rachel Dolezal. From the beginning of the article, Saletan clearly lays out that Dolezal posed as a black female by assimilating into black culture, even adopting black children, becoming an advocate for the civil rights, and going as far as changing how she looked. Next, Saletan shows what consequences she underwent when she was exposed; some even very severe. Because of what happened, Saletan poses the argument of whether or not a person can claim they are black even if they look like they have the genetic makeup of a black person. Knowing the facts of the matter, Saletan asks if Dolezal’s plan worked; if she really became a black…show more content…
The first is when she claimed that her family were targets of at least eight documented hate crimes. The police had no such evidence of hate crimes The next example is when she claimed that her home was under attack from a violent hate group, which turned out to be false because the only “intrusion” was when a couple entered through an unlocked door to look after a dog. There was another incident involving a swastika sticker that showed up overnight at HREI offices. Interestingly enough, the cameras did not catch the moment of the crime and Dolezal credited the lack of evidence to a power surge from a week ago. Then there was an instance where a noose was found hanging from a small shed near her house, where she said she got a lot of hate mail, and white supremacists threatened her son with being kidnapped. Lastly, Saletan wraps up by clarifying that “Hate crimes are a real problem, and shouldn’t be discounted just because police don’t always verify them.” He doesn’t take a stance on either side, whether she is a complete liar and none of the things listed happened or if these incidents occurred. Despite this, he still states that the thing about her “stories is that they don’t check

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